Thursday, 27 April 2017

5 Ways I Look After Myself Better In My Twenties

Let’s face it, in our younger years we are so carefree and rebellious we don’t always give ourselves the TLC we need. When you’re young you can get away with being a bit neglectful. The amount of junk food I ate at university was shocking, and I actually lost weight! I consistently slept in my make up and my skin was for the most part blemish free. Exercise involved my friend and I sitting on adjacent rowing machines while having a gossip and occasionally moving back and forth. Now all I need to do is think about a bar of dairy milk and I put on 3lbs, my skin breaks out and I need to do 30 minutes of cardio. What a wonderful thing time is.

As I entered my mid twenties I started to panic about getting old. I could not stop think about getting wrinkles and my body giving up. I’d been having knee pain for years by that point but it had began to intensify, so all of a sudden I was imagining myself as elderly woman struggling to stand up. In short I began to freak the hell out. Slowly I began making small lifestyle changes.

“Nature gives you the face you have at twenty; it is up to you to merit the face you have at fifty” – Coco Chanel

My first small step to improving my skincare regime was to remove my make up before bed. I’m not sure of the exact science behind this but I’ve heard many rumours that leaving your makeup on over night lets to you breaking out and potentially getting wrinkles. And if simply removing my makeup can help to prevent this then sure, why not. I have actually become a lot more interested in skincare products as the years have passed, much to the relief of my mother! I now use face wash, face masks, make up remover, moisturiser, basically I’m obsessed. If you have any recommendations please put them in the comments section.

"Every time I hear the dirty word ‘Exercise’ I wash my mouth out with chocolate!" - Unknown

I am not a fitness guru but I am doing more regular exercise than I have ever done in my life. I started doing a few some home workouts by a woman called Melissa Bender. Go check her website out BenderFitness.com, the woman is amazing! A couple of week after I moved to Manchester I signed me and the boyfriend up to a 10km, out first race ever. Fast forward a year and we were running our first marathon. That’s something I did not expect to do so early in my life but I loved pushing myself.

“I tried every diet in the book. I tried some that weren’t in the book. I tried eating the book. It tasted better than most of the diets.” - Dolly Parton

When I started to exercise more, I started to watch what I ate more. Especially when training for a race. It’s important to make sure you are eating the right amount of nutrients. I have switched my sugary cereals for a banana and plain yoghurt, my white bread sandwiches and crisps for vegetables and grapes, and my MASSIVE portions for a lot more reasonable sized portions. I don’t clean eat 100% of the time but the percentage has certainly increased in recent years.

At university I usually wouldn’t say no to a night out. For a while in the first year me and a friend would go out five nights a week! We did have a pretty amazing time but drinking so much is not good for oh so many reasons. Not only does it seriously damage my bank balance, but it also plays havoc with my anxiety. The next day I am just a bag of nerves, worrying that I have made everybody mad at me. It’s truly horrendous. So lately I have been trying to not drink as much while I am on a night out and to skip some nights out altogether. I wake up feeling refreshed and my bank balance breathes a sigh of relief.

Since I can remember I have always worried what other people think of me, which has led to me not speaking up when I wanted to and missing out on experiences. This has caused me a lot of anxiety. I have been working on not to giving a shit what other people think because honestly, they’re probably not thinking the awful things I think they are anyway. And if they are then I shouldn’t waste my time worrying over people like that. It has been extremely liberating.

love this post.selfcare is so important.I started doing some home workout and changing some bits in my food habits as well.also not caring about what other people think of me is a work in progress.I believe you can never please to everyone 😊 have a great Weekend xo

I really need to take a leaf out of your book! I'm always halfway through my twenties and still not exercising, and while I'm trying not to drink so much I can't say no to a glass or two on a Saturday night!